Etymologies

Examples

Shiny, striped and pygmy woodlice slunk into crevices while a dozen pallid pot worms squirmed placidly in the damper areas; one of their larger relatives – a grey earthworm – lay listless but alive on the black soil.

As every woodlander knows, dead wood is bulky but light: it makes good kindling and can be useful for the rapid heat burst you need in a bread oven, but has already been half consumed by fungi, bacteria, woodlice and insects.